Damn straight we are.
"Grand." Aoife smiled with all her teeth. Inside his head, Elliott's lion practiced smiling that way too. It was somewhatmore threatening than Aoife's teeth-baring grin, but her bright perky voice managed to be sharp enough to slice like teeth, too. "Shall we move on, then? I know Molly is eager to see the tigers, and they're coming up next. Let me tell you about them on the way."
She was actually incredibly good at this, Elliott realized as they moved on to the next enclosure. She spoke with knowledge and passion, making everyone but Collins laugh with little asides and stories, and showing astonishing patience as Molly peppered her with questions. The tigers were out lazing, although the larger male rolled to his feet and stared at Elliott when they paused outside the enclosure. He walked a little farther away, and the tiger paced him.
We could defeat it in battle,his lion said with airy confidence. Since it was a Sumatran tiger, the smallest tiger species, and Elliott was a verylargelion, as shifter animals tended to be, he was quite certain the lion was correct.
We could, but we're not going to. It's unfair, anyway. Tigers are pretty smart, but they're not as smart as shifter lions.
Hmph. Then we'll make it expend its energy walking back and forth, so that it is weak when another lion comes to challenge it.Elliott did walk back and forth, although when a squealingly delighted Molly joined him because the tiger was following him, the big orange cat turned its attention from Elliott to the girl. She clapped and bounced with delight, although both Elliott and his lion were fairly confident that the tiger's attention was because Molly was snack-sized.
She was, however, also very safely on the other side of safety glass that she couldn't climb the way she'd done the bison fence. "Have you ever been to a zoo before, Molly?"
The girl shook her head eagerly. "Have you?"
Elliott thought about how he was actually staying there, and chuckled. "I have, yes. So all the animals you've ever met have been pets? Cats and dogs?"
"And fish, and hamsters, and guinea pigs, and cheetahs, and frogs, and birds, and?—"
"I'm sorry," Elliott interrupted. "Did you saycheetahs?"
"My aunt Carol has one. She lives in Dubai. We visited her last summer and I got to sleep with Chiquita. Isn't that a good name for a cheetah?"
Aoife had said Cindy Collins was an investor, so he'd known she must be rich. Elliott upgraded his mental idea of what 'rich' meant to 'richrich, like,reallyrich,' and tried to adjust to that thought. "Josephine Baker named her cheetah Chiquita, too."
"Who's Josephine Baker?"
"She was a singer and a spy in the 1920s and 30s. A long time ago," Elliott said with a grin at Molly's wide eyes. "But she was incredible. And she had a pet cheetah named Chiquita. So you…" He rubbed his forehead and looked back at where Aoife was talking to the other adults. "You really didn't know you shouldn't go into the enclosure to pet the animals? Therearesigns," he added.
Molly tossed her hair in a kind of shrug. "Mom says to never let other peoples' rules stop you."
Elliott said, "Oh, dear God," out loud, which got him a startled look from the tweenager. "Sometimes that's a good idea, Molly. When you're trying to break through social or gender barriers, maybe. When there are wild animals on the other side of those rules, though, it's a really bad idea."
She sniffed in the dismissive manner that only kids her age could achieve. "How'm I supposed to know the difference if I don't try?"
"By reading the signs that say don't disturb the wild animals," Elliott said somewhat strenuously.
We could turn into a lion and teach her a lesson,his lion offered.
Honestly, I'm not sure she'd learn anything from it.
Aoife caught his eye as he spoke to the lion and lifted her chin a little, gaze darting to Molly and then back to Elliott, hopefully.
Right. So he was on babysitting duty. That was fine, if it helped Aoife make it through this tour and maybe get the grant her wildlife park needed. He gave her a thumbs up, and a smile blossomed over her face. He would have doneanythingfor that smile. Babysitting an entitled tweenager wasn't the worst thing he could do for it by a long shot.
"C'mon, Molly. Let's go storm the castle."
CHAPTER 7
Molly's shrill excited voice pierced the air as she chased Elliott back toward Aoife's group. "There's acastle?! Mom, I wanna go to the castle!"
"We'll need to go to the castle," Cindy Collins said with the casual arrogance of someone whose expectations were always met.
Aoife, bewildered, said, "There is no castle," and Elliott, catching up, said, "I'm so sorry. It's a line from an old movie. 'Have fun storming the castle.' I didn't think Molly would take me literally."
"Oh." Ms. Collins's mouth turned downward. "You shouldn't tease children like that."
"Children," Aoife said evenly, "should learn to live with disappointment, just like the rest of us do. Thereisa castle hotel on the island, but it's not associated with the wildlife park. You'll have to arrange it yourself, if you want to go there." It felt surprisingly good to tell Molly's mother that she would have to do it herself, or at least not rely on Aoife to make it happen.
